Cultivator - Chicago Art Exhibitions & Farm Art Projects

Jason Dunda

Solo Exhibition - Cultivator at Bray Grove Farm

Sunday, October 8, 2023, 2-5pm

Cultivator is pleased to present Jason Dunda’s solo outdoor exhibition during Bray Grove Farm’s Autumn Farm Day.

Jason will be exhibiting one of his large sculptures and an installation of textile and various manipulated materials in the expanse of the farmfield. In addition, he will perform Green the Acre with Larry Lee in their acclaimed International Chefs of Mystery! duo.

Please rsvp and join us on Sunday, October 8th from 2-5pm for art, conversation, light refreshments, and an afternoon on our small holistic farm. Bray Grove Farm is located 70 miles southwest of Chicago in Grundy County. To confirm your attendance and receive directions and parking information, kindly email.

Jason Dunda - Cultivator at Bray Grove Farm Video

Jason Dunda is a Chicago-based Canadian painter who also creates sewn and carved objects. His work deals with intersections of power, labour, and humour, usually through depictions of figures and the spaces they occupy. Recent projects include “A Hall of Unflattering Portraits,” a solo exhibition at the MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie, Ontario, Canada and “Highly Illogical,” a two-person collaborative installation at langeroverdickie in Chicago. International exhibits include the Heine-Onstad Art Centre in Oslo, and the Kuwait Art Foundation in Kuwait City. His work is represented in the collections of Todd Oldham, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre and the Doris McCarthy Gallery at the University of Toronto. Recent residencies include the Corporation of Yaddo, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the SÍM Residency in Reykjavik, Iceland, and a four-month research and production residency in Paris sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts. He holds the position of Assistant Professor at the Wonsook Kim School of Art at Illinois State University.

https://www.jasondunda.com

The International Chefs of Mystery!

Like instant ramen noodles and hot dogs, like Cheech and Chong, certain things just go together that really seem out of place and by sheer happenstance but in hindsight, kind of work. A love for the silliness of life barely imitating art (and vice versa) describes the improvisational nature of how Larry Lee and Jason Dunda collaborate in their alter egos as International Chefs Of Mystery!

And what began as two School of the Art Institute of Chicago faculty members sharing ideas to propose a joint studio course centered on humor in art then blossomed into the good old fashioned “Heavens to Betsy!” videotaped performances, Boo’s and Bakin, Cooking the Books, Serving the Man, Early to Bed and Q & A with Theodore Horner, President of the ICM Fan Club, Junior Chapter based loosely on Martin Yan (PBS’s Yan Can Cook) and the Swedish Chef (The Muppets). Of course, the whole point of such antics throws a pie in the face of society infected by cults of personalities and vox populi culture through a comedy of mannered errors as larger sociopolitical commentary.

Green the Acre

Receiving a grant for the woods, the International Chefs of Mystery! bid adieu to city life in search of their long lost American gothical regionalism and rediscover the joy of Action Cooking, an abstractly expressionistic cuisine of amber waves of grain of salt lightly peppered with grapes of wrath. Watch as the duo recreate such forgotten dishes as the Jackson Potluck, a Depression era favorite made from bacon, goose, and other animal fat drippings on a huge flat pan served on the floor. Or John’s Steuart Curry (not to be confused with John Steuart’s Curry, a completely different recipe) which called for egg tempura that Thomas Hart Benton despised because of his well-documented ovaphobia.

So in the name of plein air, join our two city mice on their day trip to green the acre.

- The International Chefs of Mystery!